[0:28:28 - 0:28:33] He was approached by one of the most powerful names in America, Nelson
Rockefeller.
[0:28:33 - 0:28:42] At the time,
Rockefeller was serving as an adviser to President Eisenhower, tasked with countering Soviet influence in psychological warfare and beyond.
[0:28:56 - 0:29:02] Rockefeller's job was to counter this, and he formed his own expert panel to strategize for the president.
[0:29:12 - 0:29:16] This was Kissinger's first collaboration with
Rockefeller, but far from his last.
[0:29:16 - 0:29:27] Two years later, he would serve as the director for the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund Special Studies Project, a panel on US International Security Objectives and strategy that included Edward Teller.
[0:39:44 - 0:39:49] Kissinger's role in Nelson
Rockefeller Special Studies project further cemented his position.
[0:39:49 - 0:39:55] Rockefeller and Eisenhower advisor led US efforts to counter Soviet influence through strategic initiatives.
[0:40:04 - 0:40:09] We must assume that
Rockefeller had some connection to MJ-12 by this point too.
[0:40:09 - 0:40:15] In fact, Detlev Brank, who is the president of the
Rockefeller Foundation, was named as one of the Majestic-12.
[0:40:56 - 0:41:04] This shift would implicate Kissinger throughout his close ties to
Rockefeller, both in think tanks and on his presidential campaigns.
[0:41:13 - 0:41:18] Yet much of its classified output remains locked in
Rockefeller's archive center.
[0:41:22 - 0:41:38] Some argue that he was bought by the
Rockefeller's early on, particularly through a grant he received while earning his PhD, and that his Harvard career was merely a cover for deeper intelligence work advising MJ-12 through a specialized think tank known as PI-40.
[0:42:44 - 0:42:54] Kennedy's administration was filled with elite thinkers from different political and industry backgrounds, including several who had worked on
Rockefeller's Special Studies project like Kissinger.
[0:42:54 - 0:43:05] Despite working on
Rockefeller's presidential run, writing speeches and giving advice, he had been approached by the Kennedy team in 1958 to discuss long-range problems and weapons evaluation.
[0:43:05 - 0:43:14] Officially, he was consulting the White House on nuclear weapons in Germany, but he remained close to
Rockefeller, seeing him as a future presidential contender.
[0:45:40 - 0:45:48] At the end of the 1960s with Kennedy gone, the Johnson administration having run its course,
Rockefeller had again run for president.